New private equity firm Consensus Capital working on its first deal

Consensus Capital Holdings LLC, a private-equity firm in Grand Rapids, began operations in May and is in due diligence on its first deal.

Its two founders and managing partners, Michael Brom and Jason Byrd, previously worked together at the Huizenga Group, a family office in Grand Rapids, Brom as CFO and Byrd as a vice president. Brom was with Huizenga for 20 years. Byrd spent the last three years as managing director for Charter Capital Partners, an investment bank in Grand Rapids, and seven years before that at Huizenga.

"At Huizenga, we got connected with the Midwest family network, people who are interested in investing in middle market companies," said Byrd.

He said they will look to invest in companies with revenue of between $5 million and $90 million, with a focus on specialty equipment, medical devices, niche manufacturing, food and beverage, automotive and B2B service businesses that are generally located in the eastern and central time zones.

Equity will be used for a variety of purposes, including ownership transition of generational family businesses, management buyouts, corporate carve-outs and to fund growth. Investments can either be either controlling interest or less than 50 percent ownership, but in either case will often involve hands-on management help.

"We are not passive investors," said Byrd. "One of the things we bring to the table is a knowledge network that can help current management ... Our experience working together at Huizenga was invaluable in terms of making us better operators and investors. We've successfully navigated both positive and challenging environments together."

Consensus doesn't have a dedicated fund or limited partners. Byrd said the business model is to find the right deal, then line up capital from their network.

Consensus Capital Holdings is open to inquiries from lower middle market companies and their advisors. "We're looking at a number of deals, now. Some were directly sourced by us and a few others came through investment bankers and brokers," said Byrd. "We're in due diligence but nothing is close, yet. One year from our starting date of May 1, we hope to have eight portfolio companies."